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Category Archives: Sci-fi

It has taken me a lot longer than I anticipated to finish my prequel to The Song of Forgetfulness Sci-Fi-fi/dystopian Series. Since this story takes place during an apocalypse, I found it difficult to actualise what it would be like to be in the middle of an environmental disaster. So, I had to do a lot of extra research into extreme weather conditions, where flooding would take place in Britain, tactical survival skills so that I would be able to write about a group of people trying to build a home for themselves in a hostile new world. Plus, there was a ton of research to do regarding genetic engineering techniques, what kind of viruses would mutate, specialist knives, how to make mud kilns, what you can and cannot eat whilst foraging, homemade toothpaste, soap, tea from pine needles…the list is endless. However, I learned a lot and might just make it if I get lost camping in the woods.

But I did it!

Here is The Chronicles of Mayer: Click on the link below to get your copy at a reduced price of 99c. This will increase to $2.99 on Saturday 20th August, so be quick, either pre-order today, or grab a copy Thursday/Friday.

For those of you who have purchased Parts 1 & 2, Beginnings, the Complete Chronicles of Mayer has a lot to offer. Not only is it much longer, but I have rewritten the first half to give a clearer insight into why Adara is there and added more physical descriptions of character and place. This new edition will replace the old one which is no longer for sale.

I’m busy editing the next story in the History of NotSoGreatBritAlbion: The Mimeo Sector. So, that will be published soon! (I hope)

Here is a universal link to my Amazon page where you can find all of my books.

I live in the countryside surrounded by fields and am fortunate to have an acre of land. Despite having a main road at the front, lots of wildlife live in my garden. The reason? I have left many areas to grow naturally and hopefully, given a safe haven to many species that are on the brink of extinction.

Yes, there are brambles everywhere, but also beautiful wild flowers that attract bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects, which in turn attracts, bats, hedgehogs, snakes, toads and other less cute animals such as rats. But hey, they’re just as adorable in their own way.

So I wonder if anyone else has decided to let a part of their garden, or yard, for my American friends, go back to nature and let the ‘weeds’ flourish? I would love to hear from those who have.

My Sci-fi/Dystopian series – The Song of Forgetfulness – is to a certain extent an homage to Mother Nature and a condemnation of mankind’s disregard for the delicate balance of the environment. I didn’t intend to make it an eco-warrior rant, but as I researched global warming, deforestation and the like, I became angry and deeply upset, so how could I not vent my feelings of despair and try to get a message across – please save our beautiful planet Earth before it’s too late.

I will be releasing a prequel to the series – The Chronicles of Mayer– in the next few weeks so watch out for another post!

The Chronicles of Mayer:

A story of survival and courage in a devastated world.

Adara needs to know more about her past if she, and everyone else, is to have a future. The Moocow Monks of Mayer have the answers. Inside their subterranean archive, as Adara sits and watches the history of NotSoGreatBritAlbion unfold before her eyes, she learns disturbing truths hidden for centuries, in – The Chronicles of Mayer.

The catastrophic flood of 2158 wipes out most of the population of Great Britain and destroys Mahabharata House, a Buddhist community. The only two surviving cow herds, Gopi Jnanamaya Kosha (Mayer) and Gopala Arjuna Bhutapanchaka, are forced to flee, taking the cows with them. With water levels rising at an alarming rate, they move the sacred herd to the highlands of Scotland.

You can find all of the books in The Song of Forgetfulness series here:

Today I would like to show you the new covers for my sci-fi/dystopian action adventure series – The Song of Forgetfulness.

It has been a challenge to find the right design and I have gone through many covers none of which made me happy. These ones do. I’ve had some excellent feedback from people and have taken on board their comments to tweak my design.

What if your last day at school turned out to be your first day as a rebel warrior?

But – it would seem there are some sci-fi writers out there who think my fonts aren’t suitable and should be more like the ones that they use. I took a look at their covers and thought, ‘No, thank you. My books aren’t anything like your books. So why would I want them to look like yours?’

Yes, I understand that I need to make the covers suggest my genre, but I will not create a book cover that does not reflect the content. The Song of Forgetfulness series of novels is a little bit different. I think that is a good thing.

I do dare to be different.

Will readers like that?

Yes, judging by the positive reviews I get.

So, I will continue to write the way I want to and be true to my art, instead of churning out generic narratives that could be written by anybody.

Hello, and welcome to another author profile. This time I would like you to meet sci-fi writer Judith Rook.

About Judith Rook

I am a semi-retired person, and very glad of it. A couple of times each week I’m back in the world of gainful employment, but it’s very much on my terms now. It was not like that not very long ago. The alarm clock was the hated tyrant of the morning and at the end of the day, I’d be thoroughly exhausted.

I should say at this point, though, that I ended my professional life as a music teacher and found enjoyment and fulfilment in the job. It was just all the work it entailed that did me in.

However, all that came to an end. I closed the classroom door behind me for one last time, thinking, a little sadly, that next year another teacher would check out the guitars and drum-kits for lunchtime practices. Then I went for a sundowner with other retiring teachers, and we raised glasses to our new lives in the “goodbye to the sirens” world. (For ‘goodbye’, you may read a short and telling word, also beginning with ‘s’).

Now I write more or less full time; I live a fully creative life and consider myself to be a very fortunate person. Although I interact enjoyably with my family, it is not on a daily basis, and sometimes I feel annoyed when my schedule tells me it is time for some exercise, or food, or some similar trivial matter.

Where Judith began to write.

What I write

I have written four novels, two of which are straight-out Science Fiction, while the other two belong to the Space Opera genre (“Star Wars” is a space opera concept). I have also written a novella for young adults, in preparation for a full-scale Young Adult novel, which belongs in the field of ScienceFantasy. Then there is a rather hot Fantasy Romance, which I wrote as a sort of bet, and which I’ve published under a different name.

My two Space Opera books (two and a half, actually) are based in a solar system where some of the planets are sentient, particularly the one called “Circe”. They all have human populations, but Circe’s humans are slightly different from others. At the same time, in the same solar system and beyond (other galaxies are not out of reach—this is Space Opera we’re talking about) there are non-sentient planets. The largest and strongest of these (a sort of ‘alpha’ planet) is “First Home”.

For hundreds of years, Circe and her humans have kept themselves to themselves, but Circe has spotted a danger coming their way from far out in the cosmos. She decides that on her own, she cannot deal with this approaching peril, so she contacts First Home and asks for help from the humans there, humans who do not believe in sentient planets. You can imagine what happens.

Writing Influences

I choose to write my books on the grounds that I enjoy reading books with similar storylines. I could never have become a writer if first I had not read hundreds of books.

Although I can never hope to be the stylist that he was, the influence which led me in the direction of writing was Isaac Asimov, the incredibly prolific author of ‘hard’ science fiction writing. For some reason, I became objectively interested in the way he used the language to express his concepts, and found that I could detect technical patterns in his works.

When I began to write, the fact that a technical understanding of writing must support the unfolding of ideas was very much with me. In fact, it is never out of my mind now, and more often than not, recognising an author’s technical ability is part of my reading enjoyment.

Research

With Science Fiction particularly, an author has to form ideas of place and existence that are not the same as the ones we come across in our everyday lives. However, there have to be physical laws which hold any existence together, and my main type of research is in the field of popular science, and in non-scholarly books about physics. I find a never-failing source of possibility in the videos issued by the “World Science Festival”. As I watch the forum discussions, ideas come into my mind, ideas about things that could be.

Writing Challenges

The biggest challenge posed by my “Circe” series was to make the idea of a “thinking” planet plausible. I was helped by a family member who tends to refer to the whole planet Earth as “she”, as though Earth has a human personality. Although Earth does not have a human personality, it has something. And when one thinks about it, the planet does communicate with us. It reacts to us and what we do, and yet at the same time it has an individually magnificent, incredibly powerful, existence that we can’t control.

So, the author in me thought about a planet whose mind has become self-aware, and whose humans follow a rule of living which provides the very best for both planet and people—and Circe appeared.

Future Writing

I am half-way through writing the final part of the “Circe” trilogy. It is taking longer than the first two books because I broke off to write my Young Adult novella and to begin its follow-on novel. However, the third “Circe” story is very much on its way, and its completion will be my main writing goal .in the coming months.

Advice to Fellow Writers

I have taken on the responsibility of self-publishing. There are a number of reasons for this, the foremost being that I would like to give other people the chance to read what I write. This means that as well as writing, I must spend hours and hours editing and revising so that my books become polished and truly professional products which immediately engage, then keep, a reader’s attention.

Some independent-publishing authors claim to “hate” editing. I can’t understand that position. Editing is where a writer brings their technical skills to the fore, where they look at what they have written and, although it may be pretty good already, they set about making it better.

If there is any advice that I would offer to self-publishing authors it is: enjoy your editing hours, and be prepared to go through a book at least twice in fine detail. If you can’t do that, then I would suggest that you either don’t publish your MS, or put it into the hands of a professional editor. You will not regret it, and your readers will thank you for it.

Reading leads to Writing and Back

Referring again to Isaac Asimov, the scientist/writer who triggered my interest in Science Fiction, I am proud to admit that I have completely worn out the full set I had of his seven “Foundation” novels. When they got to the stage where the paperbacks had so fallen apart that individual pages had separated from the others, I ordered a replacement set through a bookshop, some distance away from where I live.

“Get them on the internet,” I was told. But, making the special trip to the bookshop was what I needed to do. While I was there I browsed and came away also with other authors: Ursula K. Le Guin, Arthur C. Clarke, Terry Pratchett, C.J. Cherryh, Julian May, A.E. van Vogt, Orson Scott Card. I had ten new books to take with me, and a very special order placed. For a Science Fiction writer, at that moment, there was little else that the world could offer.

Y’know, I don’t think we choose our stories; I think our stories choose us. In the case of ‘Cherry Pickers’ I’ve had one of the main characters, Sam, nested in a corner of my mind for more years than I’m willing to count. Finally decided to let the poor guy out. So, of course, now I’ve got another whole set of stories growing out of this one.

I’ve sold other stories set on Sisyphus, the world-setting for ‘Cherry Pickers’, so I’d already done the research on the basics of the world itself: size, gravity, atmosphere, chemical composition, etc. I’d also researched arachnid characteristics & behaviors – which was a challenge, considering I’m a total arachnophobe. But the research led me to peacock spiders, & with that I had the ammunition I needed to work out how the Sissy culture would operate. To give you an idea, here’s a link to the peacock spider’s mating dance: https://www.cnet.com/news/two-adorable-new-spiders-found-meet-sparklemuffin-and-skeletorus/ Just TRY not to think of John Travolta!

What was the biggest challenge in writing the book?

Time is always my challenge. I have at best 1 hour a day, so progress tends to be slow. Drives me up the creative wall. But it’s proof that determination & plain ol’ stick-to-it-ness eventually wins the day.

What was the best part of writing your book?

FINALLY getting it to where I felt it was right. I THOUGHT I had it right on maybe the 4th rewrite, so I sent it off to my editor. Oy, was I wrong. Oh, OUCH was I wrong! She sent back four single-spaced pages of just where & how severely wrong I was, along with commentary in the MS itself. Exceedingly painful experience – but very, very necessary. The story just would not have fulfilled itself otherwise. I realized that after I finished reworking it.

Thought I’d slip in Bonnie’s award. Wow!

Do you have any advice to give authors who wish to self-publish?

Oy, do I! Perhaps the most important advice I can offer at all is to realize that posting your doc to Amazon does NOT equate to genuine self-publication, not if you want anyone to take you seriously as a writer. Agreed, simply getting a MS up on Amazon is quite enough of a chore on its own, but it’s far & away the least, last, & most malleable item in the production chain.

If you’re serious about becoming a professional writer then you simply must learn the craft and write to a professional standard. And that’s HARD, believe me. I can tell you from experience that fiction writing is a thousand times more difficult than non-fiction. I was writing NON-fiction for publication back in high school. Waaay back in my twenties I was writing feature pieces for Science Digest, Peninsula, Mankind, The Atlantic City Press, as well as various other newspapers. In college I wrote an early environmental fairy tale that was picked up and used by the NJ Dept. of Education for grammar school children. All exciting, professional work – and none of it even a fraction as challenging or just plain HARD as one fiction story.

Long story short: if you’re an aspiring author, then invest the time and money in yourself and your talent to learn how to make your stories WORK. Learn three-act structure. Learn character development, world-building, throughlines, the works. Have your work edited by a professional in your chosen field. Then swallow your tears (maybe with a glass of scotch or two) when your best efforts come back bruised and beaten. REWRITE. Cry or swear some more. Then send it back to be edited again. It’s hard, and it’s not cheap, but you’ll feel it when your story is ready to stand on its own and face the world. Mind, then you have all the mechanical posting & proofing & such to face – but by then you’ve got something you KNOW is good enough to justify the effort.

Do you have a favourite author? If so, what is it about their work that you like?

In sci fi, it’s C.J. Cherryh, hands down. Her tightly-plotted, women-oriented sci fi is what drew me back into writing after I’d given up for far too many years to help my husband build his business as well as starting my own insurance agency.

I have another novella started. After that, I plan on returning to the ‘Home World’ universe and completing the rest of the series. Considering that universe has churned out about two generations worth of tales so far I figure that’s going to keep me busy for a lot of years to come!

Thank you Bonnie.

For more information about Bonnie and her books go to her Amazon Author page:

I enjoyed this book a lot. I loved the idea of giant spiders being the main characters alongside their human counterparts. Bonnie Milani successfully makes you care about these large arachnids just as much as the human ones, as all her characters are utterly believable.

It was a fast paced read full of suspense, humour and wonderful descriptions of the alien world that made the narrative come alive.

The alien arachnids are both lovable and horrid. I hated the Sissies, but I adored Sam, the spider, he was funny and sensitive. I did feel sorry for Tsk, who’s fate was to become Kekh’s next mate. A thing he dreads, for obvious reasons.

The heroine Nikki is feisty and fun and she relates the story in a jaunty manner as she tries to sort out her role in the complex mating rituals and sinister schemes she has been drawn into. I shan’t spoil the plot, but I was hooked from the beginning to the unexpected end.

Just in time for the festive season, I have managed to finish and publish The Chronicles of Mayer – parts one and two. They are prequel stories for The Song of Forgetfulness Dystopian/Sci-fi series and give insight into how the world of NotSoGreatBritAlbion came to exist as it does in the books.

There are more stories to follow so I will be releasing them as and when I complete the manuscripts. I takes time as I have to do a lot of research into global warming, diseases, ice cap melting etc in order to get the facts right. I tell you, writing Sci-fi isn’t as easy as you might think. Creating future worlds is so creative, but I do need to male sure it is credible, hence the research.

A story of survival and courage in a devastated world.

When mother nature turns against mankind in the latter stages of the 21st century sending hurricanes, earthquakes, and deadly viruses to wipe out the human race, a small community of Buddhist monks and scientists are forced to evacuate Mahabharata House on the disused Lakenheath airbase, as rising waters engulf their home.

With many humans and animals drowned it is up to devotees Gopi Jnanamaya Kosha and Gopala Arjuna Bhutapanchaka, cow herds at Mahabharata, to protect the sacred bovines and take them to a safe haven in the highlands of Scotland.

During their arduous journey on foot and hoof, they meet other refugees of the catastrophic flood who join them on their mission to survive and build a sanctuary for themselves and the cows on the mountains of the Trossachs.

As dangerous lightning storms, traitors and disease threaten to wreck their pilgrimage, Mayer and Arjuna must do battle not only with the elements but those who would kill to get their hands on the last remaining cattle in the ever diminishing island of Great Britain.

This is an accompaniment to The Song of Forgetfulness Sci-fi/Dystopian/Action Adventure series.